If I'm being honest, Alpha Protocol was not a game on my radar, nor a game I'd even thought I'd enjoy. It seemed a bit too macho for my tastes and when it comes to the spy genre, I'm more of a Scarlet Pimpernel fan than Bond. However, this is one of those cases where I went into the game without much expectation — even with the high praise than came from the staff members who had already played and loved the "Heck" out of it.

Michael Thorton is a chameleon. Part of what makes Alpha Protocol such a fascinating title is the fact that you are playing a character who has a variety of faces, none which are necessarily his "true face." Obsidan did an amazing job writing the game, as well as Thorton's personalities, giving the player a lot to work with in terms of how they could handle the various tasks ahead of them. The player has complete control over how they want others to view Thorton's personality, from suave to completely unpredictable.

One of my favourite aspects of the game is that there is an achievement either sleeping with all the women in the game or having "no time for love." I don't know why this is a favourite thing, but it just amuses the living crap out of me. Of course in my playthrough I totally made out with all the ladies, though if I'm being real, SIE was the only one worth the effort. What can I say? I am an unabashed SIE fangirl. Yes, I get SIE is a little... forceful, but I wouldn't mess with her. Actually, all the women in Alpha Protocol had really interesting motives in the story, something that was quite unexpected. They aren't all necessarily likeable, but I enjoyed the game's approach to morality so much that I found decision making to be quite difficult.

Alpha Protocol is not without large flaws. For starters, the combat is kinda terrible. The perks are silly, the under the table dice rolling is annoying, especially given how you can be standing in front of someone shooting them and it MISSES. The game is glitchy, with screen tearing up the ying-yang, and yet this game is horribly addictive in its own right. I totally get why people hated this game, I do, but I have a hard time hating it considering the level of enjoyment I got out of it.

But seriously, #TeamSIE 4 LIFE.

Clunky shooting, appalling presentation, and poorly thought out character builds that could very easily have led to impossible situations; Alpha Protocol is singlehandedly the most broken RPG that you keep apologizing for. Too many gamers have fallen for the handful of charms this RPG happens to offer. I, however, will pull no punches on this espionage-infused mediocrity.

Outside of an admittedly complex and player empowering plot, there isn't a single aspect that this game excels in. The worst of which is combat. The AI is terribly inconsistent, with enemies either walking towards grenades and gunfire or seemingly boasting omniscience in knowing exactly where you are at all times — sometimes being able to kill you through walls. The camera stays too close to your back in smaller spaces, making sneaking up on enemies a pain and your success with a gun will be completely dependent on the roll of the dice instead of your ability to take a perfect shot. You can stand right in front of an enemy and pull the trigger an inch away from their nose and the bullet can still somehow miss. Not a great thing, considering that the Alpha Protocol positions itself as a third-person shooting RPG akin to Mass Effect.

There are also multiple technical bugs and glitches. Many of them will stop you right in your tracks. I can't remember how many times I had to restart checkpoints because doors that were supposed to open were sealed shut. During my first playthrough I was also stuck in staircases, unable to use computers because the game couldn't register my inputs, blocked by invisible walls that I'm sure weren't supposed to exist, and subject to areas where not a single texture had properly rendered.

So, why then am I supposed to enjoy Alpha Protocol? No one should be apologizing for all of these faults.

Alpha Protocol is a personal favorite of mine, and the primary reason for this is the fantastic character interaction action options. I love when games give me choice, and Alpha Protocol does that so well. As a spy, Michael Thorton has plenty of faces to wear in and out of hostile situations. You can be a ruthless, cutthroat who will stop at nothing to get the job done or a suave, romantic softy who lets his feelings get in the way.

During my playthrough, I played an unpredictable, sarcastic joker and who was more interested in the ladies than the mission. Madison and Ming were both wooed by my charm, though I think they both regretted it later. My enemies never knew what to expect from me, as I proudly earned the Hard to Read trophy for selecting lots of different dialogue options. The game does not put its best foot forward with the Saudi mission, but I'm glad I kept at it. It's not a shooter despite looking like one, so I feel sorry for those who went into it wanting it to be that. That said, focusing on pistol skills is a great idea, because it really helps with some of the tougher boss fights, but then again so does enlisting the help of Steven Heck. Honestly, Steven Heck kinda made the game for me. Such amazing dialogue all around.

I totally respect the opinion of those who couldn't get past the technical flaws of the game, but I didn't have the same experience. I found a game with a lot of personality and a ton of great ideas that I'd love to see implemented in more games in the future.

This game is not good. Its reach far exceeds its grasp, and there is some small greatness in falling short of a lofty goal. Alpha Protocol gives us prototype for Telltale's narrative adventure games and applies it artfully to spy fiction tropes, creating an amazingly broad branching narrative of intrigue, betrayal, sex, and explosions. The characters are each captivating in their own ways, and the player's interactions are where this game shines. The possibility to explore an alternate version of this story are what continually draws me into a replay.

The gameplay, however, is what scares me away. Its systems are broken on several levels, it's kinesthetically unpleasant and getting uglier by the day. That is where I am at with this game. I want to see more, but I know that it's going to be more painful than the reward of slaking my curiosity.

#TeamSIE

Despite my claim of love for Obsidian, there are two major gaps in from their body of work that I still haven't gotten around to. This happens to be one of them. It sits in my Steam library, currently installed but started only once, which got me past the character creator before I got distracted by something else. Someday, I will play through this, even if only because I find myself drawn to games that are critically split down the middle, as can be seen above. If nothing else, previews for this game taught me who the three JBs were.

For me, Alpha Protocol is textbook example of how atmosphere and writing can play a huge part in both making a game great and helping to overcome other flaws. Sure, as shooting-based RPGs, Alpha Protocol's gunplay isn't great. Bosses can be absolute nightmare for certain builds. However, the game does such a great job with its themes of conspiracy and betrayal and letting players' actions have big repercussions on the story and shaping the personality of protagonist Michael Thorton.

Basing Thorton's potential responses on the three main Bs of recent espionage pop-culture (Bourne, Bauer, Bond) is a treat and gives players a wide range of ways to ingratiate themselves to, or push the buttons of, those Thorton interacts with, as well as shaping Thorton himself. One of the game's particular pleasures is getting a certain character to go off the rails against Thorton. The rest of the cast also features a number of great standouts. Who needs enemies when you've got conspiracy nut and sociopath Steven Heck (never forget the n)? And there's no stopping you if you correctly choose to team up with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's fantastically voiced SIE, dahling.